Allman Brothers gig report

[Jay Kahrs]

Steve called and asked me to assist him on his 7/13 gig recording the Allman Brothers at the Tweeter Center (formerly Great Woods) in Mansfield, MA. Being a huge Allman’s fan I jumped at the chance, plus working with Steve is always a blast so how could I say no?

They wanted us there at 9am for an 11am soundcheck. I was about 1/3 of the way there on Saturday so I got a room and spent the night in MA and met Steve and Danny at the Tweeter Center around 9:30am. When we got there they had just backed the first of three tractor-trailers up and had started to unload the lights. Since we were way early we had breakfast and then started to unload the van.

This was a portable gig done without a truck. Steve brought in a 32 input Midas Venice, a rack of ATI and Midas pre/EQ’s, a DAT deck and a pair of Tascam CDR’s. We also had a TV for the video feed. They had us setup in a room that was maybe 50 feet from stage right behind a pair of double doors. After unpacking the gear and setting it up Danny and I started running snakes from our world to FOH and to the stage. The idea was to take subgroups from FOH and combine those with two pairs of audience mics and then record the whole show to CDR with the DAT as a backup.

We had two pairs of Sennheiser shotgun mics on either side of the stage just off the side of the bass bins. The subgroups from FOH came down as stereo pairs of drums, keys, vocals, guitars etc. We finally did a line check around 2 or 2:30 and then Steve and Danny got some sleep before the show. Susan Tedeschi opened and played from 6pm to 7:45. The Allman’s went on at 8:15 and played right to the 11pm curfew. Since there wasn’t a real soundcheck Steve started the show with the 2-mix from FOH and got his mix together by the second or third song. In total it took four CDR’s and two DAT’s to get the whole show. After the last note we packed up and were on the road home by 1am.

The only minor problem we had was with the video feed. Rather then setup our own camera to see the stage we decided early in the day to take a feed from the Brotherhood of Light, which we figured would be better then having a single camera. But after talking to them we realized that we’d get all their special effects which wouldn’t help us. So, we opted to take a feed from the house. The Tweeter center had three cameras setup and we could take a patch from their video room which was free of effects and would have their commercials and stuff between sets. Figuring that since three cameras were better then one we took the patch. The problem there was that the house cut to black
between songs so we couldn’t see what has happening on stage. Since I was the tape op I had no idea where to drop start ID’s because I couldn’t hear a count and I couldn’t see one either. Also, at one point the bass DI took a nosedive and made a squealing sound like it had a microphonic tube. Steve and I were in the dark for about a minute and a half until someone came on the com and told us what happened. In hindsight, we really should’ve setup our own camera. Other then that,
it was great show with great people and no problems. You can’t ask for much more then that can you?

[Jay Kahrs]

Preshow

[Jay Kahrs]

Our humble control room as seen from above.

[Jay Kahrs]

Slim's FOH rig. There was another console to the left with it's own outboard for the opening band.

[Jay Kahrs]

Here's the Brotherhood of light rig.

[Beech]

Thanks for the pics Jay. Sounds like "seat of your pants" stuff. Great band. Was there a guy called Warren Haimes playing or am I thinking of some other band?

Daire

[Fuzzy Logic]

daire,

warren haynes is one of the guiarists. derick trucks (butch trucks' nephew) is the other guitarist. in the passed warren haynes' band openned for the bros. after his set he would play in the bros' set.
greg, butch, jaimoe, o'teil and marc round out the current lineup.

[Kris]

Sounds like a blast... so you recorded live to CDR? Just curious why you didn't multitrack? Was the show going straight to the net or something?

[fifthcircle]

Sounds like a blast...

I worked on an Allman Bros. gig a few years back when they finished a tour at the Long Beach Blues Festival. They were the final group on the final day and they played a 3+ hour set. I was recording for the festival, but they didn't want a recording made so instead I got to watch their show from the monitor mix position...

That was one of the most fun things I think I've ever done... Great show.

--Ben

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by Kris
Sounds like a blast... so you recorded live to CDR? Just curious why you didn't multitrack? Was the show going straight to the net or something?

Yep. Right to 2-track CDR. It was a test recording, I can't say too much about it because Steve will kill me. Nothing was compromised by not having a multi-track. We were getting stems from FOH as it was, so there wasn't THAT much to mix. There are a ton of inputs off the stage. As it is, the drummers each have a 16 input Midas desk and power amps so they can do their own monitor mixes. Slim tracks each show to 48 tracks of DA-XX recorders at FOH so the multi-track tapes are there if they need them.

The only bummer was that I didn't get to watch the show from the side of the stage. I wanted to run out there when they started playing "Dreams". I also didn't get to meet anyone from the band except Derick, everyone else stayed out of sight until show time. I really wanted to meet Warren too, I wore out my copy of the first Gov't Mule disc and now I'm on my second one. I did meet Dicky a few months ago, that was a trip lol.

[Remoteness]

Thanks for the kind words Jay!

Besides taking Slim's 8 stereo FOH subgroups, and a backup stereo board mix, we set up four MKH416 short shotguns downstage right and left. We also took two of the four rear ambience mics Slim had set up for his multitrack DTRS recording for a total of six audience mics. The Sennheiser MKH416s really weren't two pairs on either side of the stage, but more like an inside and outside pairs. They appeared on the Venice320 as SR<, SRC<^, SLC^> & SL>. (stage right, stage right center, stage left center, stage left)

I had Slim's 2mix from FOH as a back up but didn't use it for my mix. I started with the submixes set to unity gain and panned as per my taste. As the show progressed I got the balances together. It took me about 2.5 songs until I was happy with my mix.

We set up our own PTZ camera but struck it and took the house video feed instead. That was a bad call on my part! I wish I didn't do that. If we kept our PTZ camera up, we could have had pan, tilt and zoom of the stage when the house feed went to black.

When O'teil's tube bass DI went microphonic, I picked up on it right away. We were in our own little world backstage and was able to solo the channel very quickly. Since it was a submix I really could not do a whole lot except dim the submix a bit. In about a minute or so, we heard the monitor guy talking about the problem. There wasn't a backup to the DI because it was O'teil's only piece and not provided by the sound company. I bet he'll be buying a second one as a backup real soon.

It was great to work with Slim and his associates. Everyone was helpful and accommodating. As Jay said, "You can't ask for much more then that, can you?"

[Remoteness]

Hey Jay,

Did the other pictures you took come out OK?
I believe I also took some shots with your camera. Did they come out?

There were some cool shots of the stage, percussion, drum sets and backline, etc...

If possible, can you post a few more JPEGs?

Thank you in advance.

[gseibert]

Was this the show that Clear Channel did where they sold CD's of the show on the way out? I just read about it yesterday. CC got 50% and the the band got 50% of CD sales.

[Remoteness]

Kind of...

Our session was one of the many tests done. There are a number of cities sighted as test and/or actual "For Sale" dates.

There are 7 to 8 cities/dates slated for this leg of the ABB tour. I believe 3 or 4 shows have already been done. CCE and it's associates are working out the bugs. Once they're (CCE & band) totally happy with the process and product produced, they will go full force with confidence. R&D is key to the success of this production venture.

I really cannot say much more about it.

[gseibert]

Here is the link that I read in the Velvet Rope. This could be the start of a great thing for bands that tour but don't have huge current CD sales:

Velvet Rope link

[Kris]

Pretty cool idea... if it's a great show I'd definately buy it, especially if there is as much attention to the recording as has been described... I'm sure it sounds a good deal better than your typical 2 mic setup...

[Jay Kahrs]

Damn, was this really a month ago? Here's more pics.

Warren's tech area.

[Jay Kahrs]

Here's the best looking pic of the backline. Actually, it's really the front line but whatever.